Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Hello my friends! I know I have been absent for a very long time. I have dearly missed you, missed the writing, and missed the creative outlet this blog provides for me. Time management has been a key ingredient missing from my life since starting my job in July. And this past month with Halloween, countless personal and professional events I have attended, and an extraordinary work load, my exhaustion has been severe. But I think I have things figured out (we'll see what that means...yes, I know, you have heard me say that before)

On that note, let's start off with some Thanksgiving fun! My sister and her fiance are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at their home, and I (of course - I begged) am providing the centerpiece. Not sure what the linens and tableware look like, so this is a massive undertaking for me- playing design-by-ear, but I will persevere and hopefully it will turn out marvelously!

I love to do centerpieces that are unusual and unexpected- i.e. not using the typical color palette, or florals for a holiday centerpiece. I was at Pier One Imports last night, and saw these empty wine/ olive oil bottles and the flood gates opened to some out-of-the-box ideas....

Going to line these in a straight line down the center of the table with long tapered white candlesticks placed in the opening of the bottle. Thinking about filling the bottles with something colorful, but not sure yet, with smaller vases/ votives at the base of the bottles. Flowers will be placed in and around the bottle necks..... Still in the planning mode.

On my walk home, I remembered this image I had pulled years ago. Very similar to what I have planned.

We'll see how it turns out....... Now - Off to the Union Square farmers market to get the goods!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Olga came to my high school for one year in 1994 from Colombia (the country- everyone keeps asking me if I mean the university!) We became great friends. However, in the era of"no email" I lost contact with her. Thankfully, a few months ago, she found me on Facebook. This last week, she stopped into NY to meet her boyfriend from Germany. They, too, had started a relationship via email on Facebook (though they had met a few times before.) It was wonderful getting to see her again, like a day had never passed. That's when you know you are truly friends. Thank you Facebook for bringing us back together and bringing Stephan and Olga together! Hooray for email and social networking sites !!! :)

Attention- Amy Davis Designs is finally open for business (on the side of course!) My lovely friends have hired me to revamp their mid-town apartment and I am thrilled to pieces! I worked for a big-time designer in LA, but never got to do a job completely on my own- mostly due to a difficult work schedule. Well, here we go....... I am meeting with them this week to get the job moving. Looking forward to cataloging the entire design process on The Designista. It's a budget job -my friend just switched careers from practicing law and is going back to her advertising roots. Let creativity prevail!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

For the Halloween decor this year, I was completely inspired by the Pottery Barn Glitter skulls I posted about earlier this month. However, we refused to pay $20 for a tiny little skull. Plus they are super easy to do. Just glue and glitter. Thankfully, we found some at Michael's Craft Store (which I will post about tomorrow- the "how to" of this Halloween segment.) Skulls became our underlying theme, as they were everywhere, but did it in a totally chic fashion.

Jeannie's house already had an orange and black theme, so we decided to stay in that color scheme. Paired with the black fluorescent light, which gave it the eerie "Nightmare before Christmas" tone, and the orange incandescent bulbs which added the romance to the ambiance, the space was completely transformed. It was so pretty and fun to do- especially on a budget. I love big creative endeavors like this.

This was the table you saw when you walked in. At two in the morning, it looked bare, so I ran outside and gathered fallen leaves to add to the mix. Like a graveyard.... A stylish one at that!

We used the black roses and white branches (Christmas decor was already in the stores) so the branches would glow in the black light.

Unfortunately my camera doesn't focus in the dark. But at least this gives the idea of a lounge-like set up we were trying to create.

I loved the crow, and would have put them everywhere, but only one made it in the shopping cart. The lone bird. The skull and bust was also a fabulous addition- 75% off for $6!!!

Carved pumpkins at midnight during the set up- possibly 1.5 bottles of wine in.

(Amy, Kyle, Jeannie)Leave it up to Kyle to break out a skill saw for precision cuts.... Typical man!

This was taken the night before, prior to the installation of colored light bulbs. I made all of her frames crooked for a haunted/ abandoned house look. I actually realized this because I knocked off one of the frames and then went on a rampage shifting all of them. I then added the pipe cleaner spiders to the walls and frames. Actually looked great! And the pipe cleaners were only $2.

Center table with the cutest little glittered gargoyles..... disappointed you can't see it here in this image. (tomorrow...)

Orange bulbs- a great addition. I completely recommend changing the lighting for events.

See the wine glass on the right? Filled with spider rings..... by the end of the night, everyone was wearing them! For parties, I always recommend giving away something, in addition to food and drinks. In this case, we did prizes for costumes, glow sticks, glow bracelets. It is low budget, but adds an interactive element, which is a lot of fun.... like party favors, or wedding favors.

Jeannie was obsessed with doing masquerade masks. I was terrible at them, but they looked amazing in the lights.

All in all, it was so much fun. Planning parties is literally one of my favorite things to do. More posts to follow tomorrow, regarding the planning process. Hope you like what you saw!

So Halloween was so much fun!!!!! Hope yours was too! So many amazing costumes (more pics to follow this posting- still waiting for additional pics from friends)....great punch (champagne, pomegranate juice, chambord, vodka, and ice skulls), good food, wonderful friends (though many were missing, due to other plans), and a lot of dancing (you'll see some of me down below!) I'll be doing several posts about Halloween; set up, decor, more costumes- so stay tuned. I just wanted to get a few up for people!

The infamous Davis Sisters!!!! By the end of the night, stranger were taking pictures with Jeannie. Peg Bundy is a big hit in Queens!

Originally I posted that i would be wearing fishnets. However, my hand went through them as I was pulling them up. Thank goodness there was a Rite Aid walking distance away, or we would have had a slight problem considering the length of these shorts!

Caught in the act, Dancing Queen!

Peg and Matt Foley (Chris Farley SNL skit- "down by the river eating government cheese...")

About Me

I am a New York City girl to the core, and a California girl at heart, which is why I finally acted on my lifelong dream and moved to NYC! I like to consider myself a planner of creative living versus just an interior or event designer because I love it all. The Designista is going to catalog my experiences through this city related to all things design- interiors, furniture (new and used,) events and ettiquette, florals, art, food and museums, and so much more. And the greatest thing- most posts will be budget sensitive! Because let's face it, everyone should have the option to live the glamorous and fabulous life....all you need is a little creativity and the willingness to pick up a tool once in a while! Enjoy!